Psalms 102:19-20, “For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the LORD behold the earth; To hear the groaning of the prisoner...”
The word “prison” is mentioned 122 times in the Word of God (56 times in the
Old Testament and 66 times in the New Testament). The first mention of the
term is found in Genesis 39:20 regarding Joseph being imprisoned in Egypt.
It is interesting to note that God never created prisons. The Bible teaches
an-eye-for-an-eye and a-tooth-for-a-tooth justice. I don't believe God ever
intended for men to be locked in cages like animals. This is why God
instituted the death penalty.
There is not a more miserable place on earth than prison. In fact, it is horrifying to be there. Inmates are fortunate if they receive 1-out-of-every-24-hours for fresh air and sunlight. For the remaining 23 hours they are locked away, unloved, in a non-caring hateful environment of snitches and distrust, forgotten about by society and oftentimes their own families. Most prisons forbid prescription medications, such as commonly prescribed narcotic pain killers, leaving tormented prisoners to continue suffering mercilessly in pain. There isn't a more needy area for churches today than the prison system. Men and women prisoners alike, many of whom will never be free again, are rotting away in America's prison system.
I am not making light of any sin or crime, but something is wrong when 25% of the world's prison population are U.S. citizens.[1] More than half of Americans in prison are there for minor offenses. Land of the free? I think not. Nowadays a person can be arrested for anything. America is following closely behind Europe, where a Police State is flourishing.
Prison guards are generally coldhearted and without compassion. It is not uncommon for prison guards to physically assault, mentally abuse and even rape the inmates. Despite popular claims, inmates have NO rights unless they have someone monitoring their well-being. Prisoners who have been abandoned by their families are at the mercy of the system.
Every facet of one's life as an inmate is controlled by other people, many of whom are cruel thugs, insensitive and hateful. Access to a phone is severely restricted, at the complete discretion of the prison guards. Without question, the Devil reigns supreme in prisons. Theft is commonplace. Inmates must beg for the simplest of items; such as a Tylenol tablet, a toothbrush or a deck of cards to pass the time away. Nothing is guaranteed except long tortuous hours of misery and mental anxiety over the remaining years ahead in prison. It is a tortuous life of misery. If an inmate doesn't have someone on the outside who cares about them, to visit them once a week and bring them needed items, then they are well nigh hopelessly lost in despair and an overwhelming sense of abandonment and grief.
No wonder Jesus said in Matthew 25:43, “I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.” The prison system is truly the land of the forgotten, where men and women are locked away like animals, often abused and have no life.
Here is a needful and effective manual on starting a prison ministry...
